Lenten Promises

Ash Wednesday snuck up on me this year.

A lot of those I read are posting what they plan on abstaining, and fasting. I think, with me at least, fasting is a no-go. When I do, I find that when I stand my blood pressure plummets and I get light headed. I spent a day moving stuff, lots of physical labor. That night, as dinner was cooking, I got up to go to the head, made it to the hallway where my legs collapsed.

I got better. Too much BP meds, to little food is what it was.

The old pastor, who retired from the parish I now attend, said more than giving something up for lent, try concentrating on life changes. Denying yourself booze or sweets is fine. But how about fixing your diet in the first place? So that’s where I head during lent. Self Improvement.

So I have two Lenten promises. One is private. The other is to get back to the prayer life I had before moving. The one that saved me.

There’s a Lenten prayer I found that I like, and have prayed for years. It’s from St Ephrem the Syrian:

Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of laziness, discouragement, lust of power, and idle talk.

Instead grant to me, your servant, the spirit of purity, humility, patience, and love.

My Lord and King, grant me the grace to be aware of my own sins and refrain from judging others; for you are blessed forever. Amen

St. Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 A.D.)

From CNA:

Ephrem was born in the city of Nisibis in approximately 306. Traditions differ on the question of his family background, with some sources attesting that his father was at one time a pagan priest. Other sources suggest that his family either was, or later became, entirely Christian.

Ephrem received baptism and began to consider the salvation of his soul more seriously. He embraced an ascetic lifestyle under the direction of an elder, who gave him permission to live as a hermit. Ephrem supported himself with manual labor, making sails for ships, while living in a remarkably austere manner with few comforts and little food.

Ephrem’s spiritual director and friend, Bishop James of Nisibis, died in 338. Soon after, Ephrem left his solitude and moved to Edessa in present-day Turkey. Ordained as a deacon in Edessa, he was known for sermons which combined articulate expressions of Catholic orthodoxy with urgent and fruitful calls to repentance.

The deacon was also a voluminous author, producing commentaries on the entire Bible as well as the theological poetry for which he is best known. Ephrem used Syriac-language verse as a means to explain and popularize theological truths, a technique he appropriated from others who had used poetry to promote religious error.